


Victory or Death

by gardenofmaris



Series: Hold Me Tight [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bathing/Washing, First Aid, Fluff and Angst, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Marking, the Paladins find out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 14:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12961761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardenofmaris/pseuds/gardenofmaris
Summary: Shiro takes care of Sendak.Sendak stakes his claim.





	1. Trust Me

**Author's Note:**

> I really really need to be working on my other WIP, but this fic series has grabbed me and refuses to let me go.  
> So here we are for the time being.

Sendak growled, storming into his quarters and letting the door slam behind him. His bionic eye was going crazy, fueled by the paranoia that there was someone waiting them for him. That someone had gotten to Shiro while he’d been away, and that someone was going to take Shiro away from him.

Some of the tension drained from him when he saw his lovely Champion laying on the bed, face bleary with sleep. Sendak must have woken him. He silently cursed himself for being so inconsiderate.

Still, it did soothe something in him to see Shiro sit up, rubbing his eyes and crawling out from underneath the covers to come to him. The passion, the dedication, the undying loyalty that the gun had instilled in Shiro made his days a little brighter.

He grunted as he sat down on the bed, and Shiro came up to him, nuzzling him in a traditional lover’s greeting. Sendak melted into the touch, returning the gesture, when he moved his arm in the wrong way. He growled in pain, cursing softly as he pulled away suddenly from Shiro.

Shiro’s eyes were concerned, and Sendak turned away when his Champion tried to look at his arm. Fuck, why hadn’t he just gone to Ulaz when he had the chance? Then Ulaz could have fixed him up really quickly and he wouldn’t see Shiro in such a concerned state.

It wasn’t like it was that big of an injury, though. He’d dealt with worse on his own.

…

Shiro pushed down the feeling of hurt that bloomed when Sendak turned away from him. Of course Sendak didn’t have to show him everything. Sendak was his own Galra, grown and capable of leading fleets into battle.

But still. It looked like Sendak was hurt, and for whatever reason he didn’t want to show Shiro. That stung.

“Sendak.” His voice was soft, pleading.

“What?”

The gruff tone hurt him a little more, and he pulled away, a part of him ready to dive back under the covers and wait until his loving Sendak returned. Still. He knew that Sendak would have his bad days. Everyone did. And pulling away when Sendak needed him was stupid. He was Sendak’s. He had better start acting like it.

“Please let me see? You helped me when I was sore and tired. I just want to help you.”

Sendak physically deflated, and Shiro could practically see the internal struggle. His ears went down, a sure sign that he was tense, but Shiro waited patiently.

“Fine.” The word was clipped, short, and Sendak thrust his arm out for Shiro to see.

Shiro gasped at the bloody spot where something had quite obviously slashed into Sendak’s arm. He reached out, nervously touching the spot only to pull his hand back like it had been burned when Sendak snarled at him.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped, looking up at Sendak with wide eyes.

Sendak’s ears were flattened even more tightly on his head, bionic eye flaring bright read and teeth bared as if he was readying himself for a fight. Shiro shrank back, intimidated by this show of fierce anger. He briefly prayed that he never truly pissed Sendak off, because something inside of him told him that to piss Sendak off would be to suffer terrible pains.

As he watched, though, Sendak seemed to realize something, and slowly changed his facial language until he wasn’t so menacing.

“It’s okay,” he sighed.

…

Fuck, he was fucking it all up. He hadn’t meant to scare Shiro, but the gash was excruciatingly painful when touched, which was why it hadn’t even been cleaned yet. He’d planned on cleaning it out himself when he got back. This was why he had basic first aid equipment in his bathroom, after all. For the times when Ulaz would smack him over the back of the head for being stupid.

Waking Shiro up with his entrance had thrown a wrench in that whole plan though. Now he had Shiro hovering over him, fussing and trying to  _ touch _ . Normally, he wouldn’t be opposed to Shiro touching him, but right here, right now, he had a pretty big problem with it.

Still, that wasn’t a reason to take it out on him. But when he looked down at him, when he thought about how much Shiro had brightened his life in the past three weeks, it scared him.

Because those damned Paladins were traipsing around, having allied with the Rebellion if the intel he’d received was accurate. It wasn’t hard to figure out what they were doing.

They were trying to find Shiro. They were trying to take his most prized possession from him. If they thought that it would be easy, though, Sendak had another thing coming for them.

Galra believed in one thing: victory or death. He would die a bloody and painful death before he would let anyone take Shiro from him.

…

Shiro watched Sendak carefully, the Galra obviously lost in his thoughts, before taking in a close stock of the rest of him. Where normally Sendak carried a scar where there was once an eye, there was now a bright red contraption that Shiro could only guess was a bionic eye. Similarly, the regular sized Galra arm prosthetic had been replaced by an arm that was much bigger, and much scarier looking.

His eyes scanned Sendak for more wounds. He saw some scrapes and spots where his fur was matted down or clumped with mud and blood and god knew what else, but none of it seemed like it was hiding a wound. As far as he could tell, the gash on Sendak’s arm was the only thing that was wrong with him.

He softly touched Sendak’s arm, calling his name softly and bringing him out of his broody looking thoughts. Sendak looked down at him, and Shiro could very obviously see the hardened war general that the Galra so valued.

But that Sendak didn’t need to stick around. Here, in his rooms, his Sendak was more relaxed, calmer, more willing to talk to him and kiss him and make him feel good. Most importantly, though, the Sendak who came out in this room was one who was more content, happier. He wanted that Sendak.

So he tilted his head in the direction of the bathroom. “Come on,” he murmured. “It’s my turn to give  _ you _ a bath.”

Sendak looked like he wanted to argue, but he let out the breath he had taken and followed Shiro easily, dropping his clothes as he went. Shiro sat him down in the tub, turning on the overhead faucet and letting the water rain down on him.

He stripped his shirt, grabbing some soap and going to work. His hands combed through every inch of Sendak’s fur that he could reach, dispersing the mud and blood and gunk that had trapped itself in his hairs. He deliberately avoided the wound for a moment, instead focusing on the calming task of lathering Sendak’s fur up and rinsing him off.

Shiro couldn’t help but smile when he heard Sendak’s familiar purr, making a small humming noise in the back of his throat in response. Sendak moved in to nuzzle him, and he sputtered when he got soap and water all over his face, but smiled and returned the gesture nonetheless.

There was the Sendak he knew and loved.

“I’m going to clean your wound out now, okay?”

Sendak’s ears flattened again, and he looked away, but took a deep breath and nodded.

“Alright, fine.”

“Thank you,” Shiro murmured sweetly, leaning in to kiss Sendak’s soapy cheek.

Sendak was definitely trying to hide a smile. He could tell.

Slowly and gently, he pulled Sendak’s arm up, inspecting the gash. The shower had done most of his work for him, thank god. The water running down Sendak’s body had sluiced away most of the coagulated blood and dirt, but Shiro could still see some pieces of dirt in the wound that didn’t look like they were going to come out very easily.

He moved Sendak’s arm right underneath the spray, wincing when Sendak tensed up in obvious pain.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make this as quick as I can.”

He put Sendak’s arm on Sendak’s lap. “Leave that there for a moment.”

Turning, he went to work searching through the drawers, making noncommittal noises to himself as he tried to find a cloth of some sort. He made a small sound of triumph when he found one, a small little rag that he could instantly tell Sendak kept around for this particular reason.

Shaking his head, he turned towards Sendak and moved back to the tub, rubbing some soap into the rag and soaking it before lathering it up.

“This is going to hurt,” he warned.

Sendak grunted.

Without any sort of fanfare, he set to work cleaning out the wound, tightening his hand minutely around Sendak’s wrist when Sendak tried to pull his arm away from him. It obviously wouldn’t have worked if Sendak legitimately wanted to pull away, but it seemed to be a good enough reminder that Sendak had agreed to let Shiro take care of him. If there was one thing that Shiro loved about Sendak more than anything else, it was how good Sendak was about keep him word to Shiro.

…

Sendak watched Shiro, took in the way his eyebrows would furrow just the tiniest bit when he was concentrating on getting something particularly stubborn out of his arm without hurting him too much. He watched Shiro’s hands, how they rinsed out the rag with ease after every few swipes so that Sendak wouldn’t be recontaminated. It seemed that even if the gun had left Shiro with no knowledge of who he was or where he came from, it left him with the knowledge of how to clean out a wound properly.

His bionic arm came up without him even really thinking about it, wiping Shiro’s sopping wet bangs out of his forehead. Shiro looked up at him at the gesture, smiling lovingly, and Sendak couldn’t help but smile back.

This felt nice.

Galra weren’t a particularly caring species unless it came to their mates or their closest friends, but friendship and camaraderie were rare. What he had with Ulaz was an anomaly. And he certainly had never had a mate.

But here, now, he had Shiro. Shiro may not have chosen him, but Shiro was staying, and that was all that mattered to Sendak. Shiro was the person who he came home to, the person he shared his bed with, and the person who helped him take care of his smaller wounds.

Ulaz was his brother, both in arms and in heart. He would always be the person Sendak turned to when he truly needed medical help, or when he needed a sympathetic ear to turn to. Shiro was the person he could kiss, the person he could spoil, the person he could adore. They would always be the two most important beings in the galaxy to him.

…

Sendak seemed to be in a much better mood than when he arrived, although Shiro noticed that he was less talkative than usual. Still, it was an improvement, especially since his ears were back up and he was actively purring, even while Shiro finished up with cleaning out his wound. He ran the rag over the gash twice more, before rinsing it off and repeating the process once more. He studied it, turning Sendak’s arm this way and that, making sure to view it from every possible angle to see if he had missed even the smallest speck. The last thing he wanted was for Sendak to have an infection crop up in the wound, and he was sure that Sendak wouldn’t want that either.

He finished rinsing off the last few stubborn suds from Sendak’s body before turning the faucet off. He turned and grabbed Sendak’s towel, helping Sendak stand up and get out of the tub, not unlike the way Sendak had helped him out those few weeks ago.

Shiro took his time drying Sendak off, making sure to get all of his fur until the majority of the water was off of him. He took special pleasure in messing with Sendak’s ears, drying them in the way that he  _ knew _ tickled Sendak. Sendak growled playfully when he did, pushing him lightly but holding on tight anyways in case Shiro started to slip on the wet floor. After one more quick once over (because boy oh boy did he know what it was like to get hugged and feel that  _ one spot _ that was still wet and cold and that they’d somehow missed), Shiro hung the towel back up.

He quickly stripped off his own soaked pants, drying off quickly before hanging his towel up next to Sendak’s. He grabbed the little medical box that he’d found while searching for the rag and ushered Sendak into the bedroom, where he made him sit down onto the bed. Kneeling in front of him, he made quick work of bandaging up the cut, smiling up at Sendak when he was done.

…

Sendak pulled Shiro up, kissing him deeply to show his appreciation for how well Shiro had treated him. Grabbing onto his Champion, he slowly led him onto the bed and down until they were laying on their sides, facing each other.

Shiro looked at him with no fear, even though Sendak had the prosthetics that he’d had built specifically for that purpose. It made Sendak feel warm inside, and he pulled the covers up over both of their bodies as he snuggled closer to Shiro, linking their hands together

He brought Shiro’s hand up to his mouth, kissing it lightly before dropping their still-joined hands back beneath the covers again. “How were the last few days for you? Did everything go the way it was supposed to?”

Shiro nodded. “There was food delivered right when you said it would be, and the books were right where you said they were. I mostly just slept and cleaned up what I could while you were gone.”

“Good. I hate leaving you, and I don’t want to do it any more than is absolutely necessary, but I do important work for the Empire. Sometimes that means going planetside for a few days while we conduct business. Sometimes that also means I’m going to come back a little battered like I did today. But I’m always going to come back to you if I can help it.”

“And if you can’t help it?” Shiro’s voice was soft, a little scared.

Sendak felt a bloom of affection uncurl in his chest, but it hurt a little too to have to be talking about these things. “If I can’t come back to you, Ulaz will take care of you. He is a good friend of mine who I have known since we were cubs, and I know that he would take good care of you if I am gone.”

Shiro made a soft hurt noise. “I don’t want you to be gone.”

“I know, my darling. I don’t want to go either. And as long as my body is physically able, I will fight to keep you. Alright? So don’t worry about it.”

A hesitation. “Okay.” Shiro’s tone was a little reluctant, as if he knew Sendak was holding some things back.

He snuggled into Sendak’s chest anyways, tangling their legs together.

“I’d like to meet Ulaz some time, I think,” Shiro murmured.

Sendak nodded, running his fingers through Shiro’s hair and lightly teasing his claws along his scalp there. Shiro shivered, and Sendak smiled. “Maybe in another couple of weeks. We can set something up and just enjoy some time together. I think I want to be selfish with you for a little longer, though.”

Shiro made a soft amused sound. “That’s alright by me.”

He curled up a little more tightly around Shiro and nuzzled him some more, restaking his scent claim. His absence had let his scent fade too much from Shiro’s body, and he wanted to rectify that. Shiro didn’t seem averse to the idea, giving as good as he got and reminding Sendak of just why he loved having Shiro here so much.

Soon, however, it seemed that the warmth, purring, and nuzzling all relaxed Shiro a lot. Sendak heard Shiro’s breath drop into the slow and steady rhythm of sleep, and his purring only got louder as he followed Shiro into dreamland.

…

He dreamed that the ship was falling apart. He dreamed that it was an emergency, that alarms were blaring and lights were going off and the world was crashing down around him. He dreamt that someone or something was shaking him, yelling his name. Shiro groaned, covering his eyes and ears with a pillow because the lights were too bright, the sirens were too piercing, and the voice yelling his name was too loud.

Wait.

He shot up in bed, scooting up against the headboard and taking everything in. The alarms that he’d peripherally noticed before were going off, and every few moments there was a loud rumbling noise as the entire ship shook. Over by the side of the bed, Sendak was dressed and reaching out for him, yelling his name.

He scrambled over to Sendak, who shoved a pile of clothes into his arms. “Put these on.”

He also set what looked to be ear plugs and a blindfold on the bed. “When you’re done getting dressed, take these and go sit on the couch. I’m going to go turn the alarms off, and when I come back, I’m going to help you put those on.”

“Why? What’s happening?”

“I can’t explain, Shiro. I’m sorry. I know I said that you can’t leave this room, but I have to take you somewhere, and I can’t let you see or hear certain things.”

Shiro made a noise in the back of his throat.

“I know. I’m sorry, my darling. But please. Trust me.”

Shiro took a deep breath.

The ship shook once more, stronger than before.

“I trust you.”

“Thank you.” The relief was palpable in Sendak’s voice.

Shiro watched Sendak run out of the room, before turning and starting to get dressed.


	2. I Love You

Sendak kept Shiro’s head tucked into his neck as he walked briskly to the comm room. Being the commander of a ship had its advantages, one of the biggest being complete privacy for what he was about to do. Those Altean nuisances and Paladin brats would see just how hopeless it was for them to try and take what was his.

The ship shuddered again as the Castle or Lions,  he didn’t know or care which one it was, attacked the ship again. He growled, moving faster. He’d worked too hard for this ship to let those pains in his ass ruin it. As it was, they were already going to have to stop for repairs soon.

The door opened with a hiss, and he stepped through into the room where the giant video screen stood. He motioned for one droid to come into the room and stand in the shadows. Setting Shiro down next to the droid, he gently nuzzled Shiro’s jaw and neck and placed his hands on Shiro’s shoulders in a silent command to stay there.

“You want me to stay here?” Shiro murmured, voice a little unsure.

Sendak cupped Shiro’s cheeks, slowly tilting Shiro’s head up and down.

“Okay.”

As he stepped up to the comm unit, he ordered the droid to hail the Castle.

The screen flickered on, and an old Altean with orange hair answered, a bewildered expression on his face. Sendak spared a brief thought to question just where the Princess was, but shoved it away for later.

“Retreat.”

The orange haired Altean looked gravely offended at the one word command. “We will  _ not _ . You have someone we’ve been working very hard to find, and we won’t stop until he have him.”

“Retreat.  _ Now _ .”

He snarled the words, delighting in the way the weak blooded Altean seemed to lose a little color in his face. Nevertheless, the Altean seemed to have a backbone of some sort that he used to pull himself back up.

“It’s futile trying to reason with us. The Paladins of Voltron aren’t easily scared, and you will rue the day that you tried to intimidate us.”

The threat was too dramatic for Sendak to take seriously, but instead of laughing the way he wanted to, he simply turned to the droid.

“Bring him.”

Sendak took great pleasure in the way the old Altean gasped when he saw Shiro being led out of the shadows.

“You monster,” he gasped, taking in the blindfold and earplugs. “Let him go.”

Sendak smiled menacingly, pulling Shiro away from the droid and up against him, Shiro’s back to Sendak’s front. Shiro, the obedient pet that he was, went willingly. Sendak was sure that Shiro was reminding himself of Sendak’s earlier plea to trust him, and it made it so much more delicious to run his hand up Shiro’s chest to rest over his jugular. His claws were very obviously poised to rip into the delicate skin there, and the Altean gulped as Sendak leveled him with another look.

“Call your Paladins and your Princess in now, or I will rip him open and make you watch as I pull out his heart.”

He thanked every deity that was ever imagined that the Druids’ technology made Shiro completely deaf to what was going on, although Sendak could tell that Shiro was trying like mad to figure out what was going on. Shiro was always a little too intelligent for his own good. Still, Shiro stayed there.

“Princess, you and the Paladins had better get bac-”

The Altean cut the transmission, and Sendak used the time that passed to kiss his way down Shiro’s jaw and neck. Shiro tilted his head to the side, sighing in pleasure and reaching back to grab onto Sendak’s hip, pulling him  _ much _ closer. Sendak growled playfully against Shiro’s pulse, and he felt the jump in it as Shiro’s heart started to beat faster. The ship stopped shaking, and one of his subordinates radioed him to let him know that all five Lions had retreated back to the Castle. He smiled against Shiro’s skin, the pieces falling into place.

“Sendak,” Shiro whispered, and Sendak purred, holding him close to let the vibrations run through Shiro’s body. Very softly, Sendak pressed one finger against Shiro’s lips, urging him to be quiet. He turned Shiro’s face to give him a loving kiss as a reward, before putting him back in the position he’d been in before.

Sendak’s grin widened as the comm notified him of an incoming call from the Altean Castle. He let the droid answer it, and immediately the four paladins, the Princess, and the ancient Altean filled the screen. They were all in the Paladin armor, the Princess in the black set, and Sendak smirked as his hypothesis proved correct.

So  _ that’s  _ where the Princess had been.

All four of the humans yelled Shiro’s name, and the Princess looked absolutely dismayed. She must have been hoping that she’d been lied to. Ah, the thrill of having sentient beings right where he wanted them. It made him want to shiver it felt so good.

“Don’t bother. He can’t hear you. Can you, my Champion?”

Shiro stayed absolutely still, not even registering that they were talking about him.

The runt in green shoved their way up to the screen, shoving their finger into it. “Let him go!” they yelled.

Oh, it was almost cute how the little shrimp thought that their little threat would do something. He threw his head back, outright laughing, and pulled Shiro in tighter. “I think not. He’s mine. You’ll never have him.”

“He doesn’t belong to anyone,” the one in red growled, and Sendak grinned at the familiar anger that he could see emanating from the cub.

“Oh, but see,” Sendak started, running his claws along Shiro’s jawline, neck, collarbones,  chest, “he  _ does _ belong to me. I’ve made sure of that time and time again, and I think that it’s time I make that ownership permanent, don’t you?”

“Don’t!” the Princess cried, reaching out her hand. “We have information about the Resistance. We have the Lions. We have Voltron. Name your price, and we will give it to you if you will just give Shiro back to us.”

Sendak tutted, shaking his head back and forth. “You must truly think that I left my litter yesterday. I know your trickery intimately. I lost my previous ship to that trick. Do you really think I would fall for it again? And you’re forgetting one thing. Even if I were stupid enough to fall for the same ruse twice, you still wouldn’t be able to win, because you can’t form Voltron, can you?”

He had to give it to the Princess, she had obviously excelled in whatever diplomacy tutoring she had been given, because her face didn’t change. The rest of her gaggle obviously had not undergone the same rigorous training, because their faces gave it all away.

Sendak laughed again. This whole thing was so good. It felt amazing to have them dangling on a string, to make them dance while toying with their emotions.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice that you didn’t form Voltron while you were attacking. Were you able to, you would have, and you probably could have taken on my ship. But you don’t have the right head, and everything must fall apart from there. A pity too. You were so close.”

He turned Shiro around, slowly pushing down on him until Shiro was kneeling in front of him. His claws gently pressed into the fragile skin underneath his chin, tilting his head up. It pleased him, to see Shiro so attentive, so good, tilting up towards him like a flower seeking its sun.

The only thing ruining it was the incessant yelling of the Altean and Human bunch. True, he almost always enjoyed the screams and pleas when someone was begging him not to do something, but right now his focus was on Shiro. His heart beat faster as he looked down at Shiro, who was waiting patiently. He’d wanted this since he’d taken Shiro, and what better time than now? He could show the world who Shiro belonged to,  _ and _ he could make a point to the Paladins. Victory had never tasted so sweet.

Turning to the droid, he ordered, “Mute their transmission.”

The silence in the room was a blessed one, and he looked back up towards the screen. “He won’t be able to hear you, even when I take out these plugs, so don’t even bother.”

He could see them still trying as he crouched down to remove the ear plugs from Shiro’s ears, restoring his hearing completely.

“Sendak?” Shiro’s voice was small, questioning, and Sendak immediately saw the others go still on the viewscreen.

He made eye contact with every person on the screen as he answered. “Yes, my Champion?”

“Are we done? Can we go home?”

“Almost. I just have one question for you.”

“Yes?”

“You’re mine, right?”

The answer was immediate.

“Yes. Of course. Always.”

The green runt was pulled in towards the yellow Paladin, and they buried their face in the yellow Paladin’s stomach as their shoulders shook with fear. The red Paladin’s hatred was palpable, and the blue Paladin’s face had no color left in it.

The best expression of them all though, came from the Princess. She was obviously trying to put on a brave front, be the decisive head, but he knew that she knew what was about to happen, and it showed in the tears that ran silent down her face.

He brandished his claws at them, looking down at Shiro.

“You’re so good.”

Sendak raised his arm, and, in one fell swoop, brought a claw down onto Shiro’s face.

The blindfold fluttered to the ground, and Shiro pitched forward, yelling in pain as he clutched his bleeding eye. Shiro looked up at him, his uninjured eye staring in disbelief at him as he burst into tears. Sendak dropped in front of Shiro, shushing him and he pulled Shiro’s hands away and checked him.

His eye was filled with blood, but that was to be expected. Leaning in, Sendak lapped away at the blood around his eye with his tongue, pressing the pads of his fingers into the gashes above and below his eye to check on the eyeball itself. It seemed unharmed, which was the intention, but he was still going to have Ulaz check it out just in case.

“Why?” Shiro cried as soon as he was able to catch his breath enough to speak. The tears were still coming, washing the blood out of his eye as new blood poured in.

Sendak reached down, picking up the blindfold and pressing it up against the wound, putting pressure to stop the bleeding. “You said that you trusted me, didn’t you? And you still trust me, right?”

Shiro nodded, placing his own hand above Sendak’s.

“Well, I need you to trust that what I did, I did because it needed to be done. I am going to keep you here with me for as long as I live, remember?”

Shiro nodded again, pitching forward and hugging Sendak.

Sendak looked up, eyes boring into the Princess’s, whose mouth was pressed tightly closed. The Paladins all seemed to be comforting each other in the background.

“I expect you to be gone soon, or I will make good on my earlier promise.”

The Princess looked disbelieving.

He snorted. “I’m Galra, am I not? Do you really think I wouldn’t?”

He could tell that she thought him a monster, and he loved it.

Shiro, curious who he was talking to, started to turn and look at the viewscreen, but he didn’t get far when Sendak gently cupped his jaw and made him look away.

“Trust me,” he whispered.

Shiro nodded. “I love you.”

Sendak ran a hand through Shiro’s hair. “I know.”

He looked back up to the screen. “You have five doboshes.”

With one motion towards the droid, the transmission was severed. Sendak turned to Shiro, who was still crying, although more from reflex at this point. It was always such a beautiful look on him, Sendak mused. It was going to look so much better now, now that Shiro carried Sendak’s ownership in plain view.

“Come here,” he murmured, opening up his arms.

Shiro clambered into them immediately, and he sat there, clutching his beautiful Champion and comforting him until another Galra radioed in, telling him that the opposition had fled.

“Come on. Let’s go back to our room.”

Sendak picked Shiro up, pressing Shiro’s face into his neck just like when they’d been on their way over to the comm room. Shiro whimpered but still pressed himself closer, using the hand that wasn’t still putting pressure on his eye to hold on to Sendak’s neck.

He murmured sweet nothings to Shiro as he carried him back, and as soon as they were back in their room, Sendak carried Shiro to the bed, tucking him in and getting him a new cloth to press over his eye. He tossed away the bloody blindfold, before radioing to his second in command.

“Send Ulaz to my quarters immediately.”

…

It seemed as if the transmission cutting out had unlocked something manic in Pidge, who immediately ripped herself out of Hunk’s arms and launched herself at the control panel. She shoved Coran away, tapping frantically at the panel like a woman possessed.

The video recording of the call was pulled up on the screen. They all stared as Pidge fast-forwarded through the video. They saw Shiro again, kneeling on the cold ground and clutching at his eye, while Sendak crouched in front of him. She stopped the video, and they all heard what she had been looking for clear as day.

“ _ I love you _ .”

Pidge shook her head frantically, muttering to herself as she rewound it just a few seconds.

“ _ I love you _ .”

Again.

She rewound it time after time, muttering getting more agitated and body trembling visibly.

“That can’t be it. It can’t.”

Her voice was cracked, close to breaking, and she replayed the scene one more time.

Keith snapped.

“For God’s sake, shut that  _ off _ !”

The inhuman way he growled it was obvious to everyone in the room, and he moved Pidge away from the center of the panel, shutting it off. He sagged against the panel, breathing heavily.

Pidge meanwhile, started whimpering, sagging in a way that was similar to Keith, but falling further, letting herself sink to the ground not unlike the way they’d seen Shiro. She buried her head in her hands, audibly sobbing.

“What’s happening?” she gasped, turning to Allura and Coran. “Why did Shiro say that to Sendak? Why did he let that monster touch him?  _ Why _ ?”

Lance came up to her, leaning down and helping her up. “Come on, Pidge.”

She tore herself out of his arms. “No! I want to know what happened to Shiro.”

Allura cleared her throat. “Perhaps we should all take a moment to rest and calm ourselves before Coran and I explain what we do know.”

“No way. You’re going to explain what you guys know, and you’re going to do it now,” Keith demanded.

“Yeah, what he said,” Lance piped in.

The rest of the paladins chimed in with their own agreements, and Allura sighed. She rubbed her hands down her face, obviously weighted down with whatever she was going to tell them. Pidge had a feeling that she didn’t really want to know whatever had happened.

“Let’s go have a seat somewhere that it’s more comfortable. Before you all protest, you  _ will _ want to be sitting down for this.”

They all followed her to the couches, talking quietly amongst themselves and checking in to see how they were each holding up.

Allura and Coran both sat on one couch, and the four of them sat on the perpendicular ones, facing the Alteans.

“Galra are curious creatures when it comes to their mating habits,” Allura started.

The rest of the Paladins made slightly disgusted faces.

“What are you implying?” Hunk asked.

“Please. Let me continue.” She cleared her throat, hunching over a little bit and staring at the floor. She didn’t think that she could look them in the eyes while she was telling them this.

“The Galra I remember were very close, very casual with each other. They treated sex and intimacy with reverence, and they engaged in it often and with many of their closest companions. However, sometimes they would also choose one or two of their companions as “mates”. They still might engage in intimate acts with other Galra, but other times they would simply stay monogamous with their chosen. Galra would easily be able to tell when another Galra had been taken as a mate because they would mark each other.”

The silence that ensued as they all sucked in a breath choked Allura a little bit.

“I don’t know how the Galra have changed in the last ten thousand years. I don’t know how they hold their personal companionship, or if they even have time to be as social as they were before. What I do know is that Sendak’s message was clear.”

She paused, trying to get the words out, but failing.

“He marked Shiro as his mate, didn’t he?” Lance asked, voice small.

Both Coran and Allura nodded.

“But why would he just sit there?” Keith asked. “It’s been less than a month. There’s no way Shiro could fall in love with someone in that time, much less a Galra soldier.”

Allura shook her head. “That, I do not have an answer to. Perhaps it is some Druid magic or Galra technology. Maybe Shiro is trying to play his cards right until he can find his way back to us. Maybe Sendak forced Shiro to play the role of the loving mate in front of us. I don’t know, and I don’t think I could tell you with any certainty which one it was. All I know is that Sendak has claimed Shiro as his mate, which implies multiple things.

“It implies that Sendak either has or is going to take Shiro to his bed, regardless of whether or not Shiro is willing. It implies that other Galra will see the union as valid, and will therefore help Sendak fight to keep Shiro at his side. Most importantly, however, it implies that Sendak intends to keep Shiro away from us, at his side, for the rest of Shiro’s life. Galra do live much longer lives than humans, after all.”

“What do we do now?” Hunk asked. “How can we get Shiro away from Sendak?”

Allura shrugged haplessly, seeming to shrink under the weight of everything that had happened. “For now, we regroup. We go to the Blade, we see what they can do, what they know. We find out if there is any way to get intel from Sendak’s ship. This will be easier if we can figure out a way to get eyes on the inside.”

They all nodded in agreement. Lance met Hunk’s and Pidge’s eyes from across the couches, and patted the spot next to him. They squeezed in easily, all leaning into each other and trying to comfort everyone else.

“We’ll get him back guys,” Hunk murmured, wrapping his arms around everyone. “I just know we will.”


End file.
